The Old Masters market in 2025 has delivered a compelling blend of breakthroughs and recalibrations,marked by record-breaking sales on one hand and cautious recalibration on the other. As always, Sotheby’s and Christie’s have remained central to shaping the market’s tone. Early in the year, Sotheby’s drew headlines with the long-anticipated Saunders Collection, touted as the most valuable Old Masters group ever brought to auction. Yet despite its fanfare and a projected range of $80 million to $120 million, the single-owner sale realised just $65 million.Among the standout sales were Adriaen Coorte’s Still Life of a Porcelain Bowl with Wild Strawberries, which fetched $2.9 million, within the presale estimate of $2–$3 million estimate. Francesco Guardi’s Venice, A View of the Punta della Dogana sold for $10.5 million, just reaching the $10–$15 million estimate.Yet some key pieces failed to resonate with bidders, including Sir Thomas Lawrence’s Portrait of Miss Julia Beatrice Peel, estimated at $6 to $8 million, which went unsold. Sixteen lots failed to sell altogether, and with two withdrawn, the collection’s sell-through rate settled at a 58 percent. A further offering of 14 Saunders lots in May’s various-owners sale titled Master Paintings & Sculptures: 1300–1900 added $720,090to the overall total, leaving the final tally at $65.4 million, $14.6 million short of the collection’s low estimate. Only 34 of the original 57 lots found buyers.
Sotheby’s performed more solidly in February, when its Master Paintings Part I sale reached $23.3 million. Standout works included Peter Paul Rubens’s Annunciation, which fetched $4 million, Raphael’s early work Saint Mary Magdalene, which sold for $2.6 million, and a Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine attributed to Botticelli’s workshop, which brought in $550,000.
At Christie’s, the first half of the year revealed the strength of strategic scholarship and an appetite for rediscoveries. The February Old Masters evening sale in New York was led by Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael’s Adam and Eve, which sold for $2 million, beating its $1 million to $1.5 million estimate. Another highlight was the Portrait of Mary, Duchess of Burgundy by the Master of the Magdalene Legend, which soared to $239,400 against a $40,000 to $60,000 estimate.
In May, Christie’s Old Masters and 19th Century Paintings sale returned with more modest expectations, with no lots carrying six-figure estimates. Nevertheless, it delivered several bright moments. Chief among them was Galatea - a fragment, attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, which achieved $428,400, far surpassing its $50,000 to $70,000 estimate and reaffirming the market’s enduring enthusiasm for Gentileschi’s work. Catherine Lusurier’s Portrait of a Young Artist, a late 18th-century portrait, also struck a chord with collectors, selling for $239,400 against an estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
July’s London marquee evening sales confirmed the sharpening divide between exceptional and ordinary offerings in the Old Masters category. Among the triumphs of the season was Canaletto’s Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day. Sold as Lot 8, the painting shattered expectations selling for £27.5 million against a £20 million estimate, setting a new auction record for the artist and becoming the second-highest price ever achieved for an Old Master at Christie’s London. The painting, once part of Robert Walpole’s collection, accounted for 58 percent of the sale’s total. A rediscovered early oil by J.M.W. Turner, The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent's Rock, Bristol, believed to have been painted when the artist was just 17, soared to £1.5 million, five times its high estimate.
Female artists also made their mark. Diana de Rosa’s Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, estimated at £60,000 to £80,000, stunned with a £250,000 result at Sotheby’s, while Artemisia Gentileschi’s David with the Head of Goliath achieved £1.5 million. The latter work benefitted from recent conservation efforts that revealed her signature and a partially legible date, enhancing both scholarly and commercial interest. Still, the season was not without its let-downs. Clara Peeters’ presumed self-portrait failed to sell at Sotheby’s despite its rarity and a £1.2 to £1.8 million estimate.
Record prices for Lorenzo di Credi and Corneille de Lyon underscored collector interest in underrepresented figures, though a cooling response to Vilhelm Hammershøi. Similarly, two works by Vilhelm Hammershøi, Self-Portrait (Sotheby’s) and Interior, Setting the Table (Christie’s), were bought in, including the latter which held one of the highest estimates of the evening at £2 to £3 million, showing desire, not estimate, is the key driver of value in today’s Old Masters landscape. 2025 so far is showing that the market that is cautious but engaged. Collectors are applying increased scrutiny to estimates, yet remain eager to compete for exceptional works that boast strong attributions, compelling stories, and historical importance.
Cover image credit: Canaletto, Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day, sold at Christie's London on July 2025
